A Look Inside Canopius’ New London Office

Specialty lines reinsurer Canopius recently hired workplace design studio BW: Workplace Experts to design their new office in London, England.

“Upon entering Canopius’ space on level 29, visitors will find the reception and lounge, where the bold use of colour immediately draws in guests. Within this space is the most striking feature of the design – the red resin-coated helical staircase. This was introduced to connect the 29th and 30th floors internally and was installed by BW along with the completion of associated structural works.

The reception and lounge lead through to the ‘Canopius Lounge,’ a broker visitor suite and café. Designed with a clear vision of how brokers can work better together with their clients, the Canopius Lounge has been equipped with stations offering underwriters and claims managers the ability to share a private screen with clients. Also found on level 29 is the boardroom, a ‘war room,’ plus a multi-faith room, the IT helpdesk and build space, mailroom and stores.

The main workspace/breakout space follows an open plan layout supported by a range of focus and meeting rooms hosting from 2 to 20 people. This reflects the group’s move towards activity-based working with branded neighbourhoods. The office is emblematic of everything the company stands for – embracing individuality, valuing collaboration, encouraging sharp and diverse thinking and getting good work done.

In terms of design qualities, a warm and calm feel in the open plan desking and vast suite of focus rooms and collaboration spaces has been created by using a wide variety of textures from sumptuous velvet, copper mesh screens, and fabric wall coverings. This space has been brought to life with a colourful design that delights and surprises visitors and staff alike. The space comes equipped with coffee/tea points, print/copy rooms, storage and utility space, as well as a comms room on each floor. Level 30 also includes a library, staff café, first aid room and training room. The shift to a remote working environment brought on by the pandemic required the client and staff to adapt quickly to a new way of working. BW put in extra effort to build strong team relationships with this in mind. This challenge led to enhanced communication processes and improved technology. BW optimised remote collaboration tools, including 360° virtual site inspections, making it much more efficient to work remotely.”